Dancing Cranes

I am back from a fantastic trip to Japan and discovered that the closing date on our house has been pushed back 10 days. Gives me a bit of breathing room on the packing but I am eager to get started in Arkansas now. I was totally amazed by the AMOUNT of snow northern Japan gets in the winter. We had 3 blizzards come in back to back and had to arrange our travel as the roads opened. The snow was piled so high on the sides of the roads that it was like driving through a tunnel at times. But road clearing was very efficient and didn't much stop us from getting around and photographing.

These cranes are all very much part of the snowy scene and as their white bodies and wings blend into the white bkgd and falling snow, their striking black necks, legs and tail feathers create elegant graphic lines, punctuated with their bright red crowns. I used a layer of topaz impression at reduced opacity over the original image.

Beautiful scene and treatment! Not so sure about the piece of "horizon" though. I'd crop it off, or straighten it or lighten it a lot. Maybe add a little more to the bottom?

Glad you trip was wonderful -- that's still on my bucket list. Hope the rest of the move goes equally well!

Nancy,

Greetings. Welcome back. The cranes are pretty cool looking. I'm conflicted about the wall (?). While unconventional, it does give a bit of 3 dimensionality to the scene. I might try just a dash more contrast between the wings and the snow. Thanks for posting. Hope to see more from your trip.

Cheers,

-Michael-

Great catch of the motion. I'm in the "eliminate the dark triangle at the top" club. So glad you had a wonderful, though cold trip. Jealous. Have a good move

This must have been a wonderful trip, and I am glad you have a bit of a reprieve. I don't mine the triangle at the top, but think more room on the bottom would be a good idea. Looking forward to hearing more, did you go as part of a photography tour?

Thanks everyone for your comments. I first removed that top dark area, then added it back, and couldn't decide if it added framing or distraction. Probably will remove it again. Appreciate the other ideas. I was part of a photo tour, Outdoor Photo Safaris, from South Africa. Very well organized and run, with so many photo opportunities. I also appreciated that we stayed in mostly small local lodges with Japanese style rooms and food, which was always presented as art and mostly delicious!

Before reading the other comments, I used Content Aware Fill to fill in the triangle. Probably because of the way the lighter feathers blend into the snow leaving the black ones as the attention-grabber, I like it better without the triangle.

It's a very compelling image, and I like the subtle texture in the snow. The feathers of the crane in the back blending into the snow is one of the keys in making this such a good image.

Hi Nancy, I'm late to the party all around (I've been out shooting wildflowers and kids!) but glad you had a great trip and are home safe and sound. I like this image a lot for the energy and contrasts. I also vote for losing the dark corner. Well done!

Loose the corner, I hope to someday visit and see these wonderful cranes. Love it